How a Photographer Built the Most Realistic Photography Video Game

Apr 15, 2025

Jeremy Gray

Sunset view of a mountain landscape with snow-capped peaks, tall evergreen trees, a grassy hillside, and a rustic building in the foreground. The sky is clear with a soft, pinkish glow.

Photographer turned game developer Matt Newell’s brand new video game, Lushfoil Photography Sim, released today on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. It is a beautiful, brilliant video game, and the most realistic photography game ever. PetaPixel chatted with Newell about his inspiration for Lushfoil, how he built it, and what he hopes the game offers photographers and traditional gamers alike.

The Inspiration for Lushfoil

“Lushfoil was primarily inspired by the travels I did in my early 20s,” Newell tells PetaPixel. “I would frequently reminisce on the many photos I took in Italy, France, Japan, New Zealand, as it was the first few times I had the opportunity to leave Australia, it had left such a strong impact on me.”

A pathway lined with rows of vibrant red torii gates with black inscriptions, creating a tunnel-like effect at Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, Japan. Sunlight filters through, casting shadows on the stone steps below. — Credit: Matt Newell / Annapurna Interactive

At the time Newell was reminiscing, contemporary video games inspired him to try to recreate some of his photo adventures in real-time 3D graphics.

“So I would reconstruct these environments using my travel photos as a side-by-side reference, to try and do them justice,” the photographer says.

A quiet, sunlit street in a traditional Japanese town with wooden buildings, red lanterns, signs in Japanese, and a tall pagoda in the background under a clear blue sky.

Newell, a self-taught game developer, acquired the necessary skills bit by bit over time as he experimented. As he says, Lushfoil is a very open-ended game in terms of design, resulting from Newell’s learning process, which he says was not heavily restricted.

“It has felt very iterative and fun,” he says.

As part of this iterative process, Newell released some of Lushfoil‘s different environments throughout the process as standalone experiences. He took a lot of feedback he received on these piecemeal games, which he says helped him make Lushfoil a much more complete, accessible photography video game than any of his prior releases.

A secluded tropical beach with clear blue water, reddish rocks, and lush green trees under a bright blue sky. The shoreline curves gently, and sunlight reflects off the calm sea.

This feedback was especially crucial for Newell, as he built Lushfoil entirely by himself in Unreal Engine 5. While Unreal Engine 5 has a lot of great tools, that is an exceptional amount of work for a solo developer.

“The biggest challenge faced as a solo developer is all the skills you need to learn in order for your project to be considered a complete experience. Above all, I had to ensure efficiency in my workflows to avoid losing too much time, and with the time that you have, spend it where it matters,” Newell says. “The environment creation is where I felt I could excel the most, while the game’s mechanics are minimal, I think they’re enough to convey the game’s intentions, and keep the player entertained.”

Achieving Photorealism in a Photography Video Game

As many gamers know, a common goal for many games is to achieve “photorealism.” For Newell, this takes on a double meaning, as he quite literally wants to realistically recreate places he has taken photos and provide virtual photographers the chance to see — and shoot — the same scenes he did.

Rocky shoreline at sunset with mountains in the distance under a dramatic sky filled with dark clouds and warm orange light reflecting off the water.

Beyond the striking environments, which, as seen throughout this article, are super realistic, one of the most convincing effects is the realistic depth of field. While many games struggle to achieve this effect, even ones with massive budgets and hundreds of developers, Newell says it was “surprisingly easy” to pull off in Unreal Engine 5.

“Unreal Engine allows for a lot of these effects to be done automatically, which I’m grateful for,” he says.

A camera viewfinder focuses on a rustic dirt path lined with wooden fence posts and barbed wire, surrounded by lush green trees and foliage on a sunny day. Camera settings are displayed at the bottom right. — Credit: Matt Newell / Annapurna Interactive

That doesn’t mean building realistic environments wasn’t challenging from a technical perspective, though.

“One of the most challenging parts of Lushfoil was to see how many plants I could fit into a scene while still allowing it to run smoothly. I wanted to have really dense and realistic forests, which involved a lot of technical trickery to achieve,” Newell says.

Stone lanterns covered in moss stand among lush green foliage in a misty forest, with tall trees and soft sunlight filtering through the branches. — Credit: Matt Newell / Annapurna Interactive

Since Newell built Lushfoil all by himself, he says he had to be smart with his time, ensuring he took as much advantage as possible of his strengths while limiting the impact of any weak areas.

“The environment creation is where I felt I could excel the most,” Newell says. “While the game’s mechanics are minimal, I think they’re enough to convey the game’s intentions and keep the player entertained.”

Bringing Real Photography to a Virtual World

 As for these game mechanics, Lushfoil is, at its core, a walking photography simulator. The player explores the world through a first-person perspective and is armed with a camera. The first camera the player gets is inspired by a mid-range Canon 1100D DSLR, Newell’s first camera. He has since transitioned to a Sony a7C, but that first DSLR experience remains key to Lushfoil‘s early gameplay.

While the player explores and takes photos through their virtual viewfinder, learning how adjusting each camera setting, like shutter speed, aperture, and white balance affects the look of their photos, they encounter different challenges and missions. Completing these unlocks new areas to explore, some of which feature hidden collectibles to find, encouraging the player to explore. There are many secrets to uncover, which are best experienced firsthand by players.

A digital camera interface overlays a scenic landscape of dense evergreen forest and mountains reflected in a calm lake. Camera settings and a start-up tutorial are displayed on the screen.

“I grew up with photography and still keep it very close,” Newell remarks. “I love looking back on photos I’ve taken throughout the years.”

Newell hopes Lushfoil not only offers veteran real-world photographers a chance to strut their stuff in a virtual world but helps provide fun, accessible education for photography beginners.

Newell says his virtual camera is “fun to use” while providing “insight into how settings in real cameras are handled, which will hopefully help newcomers to photography bridge the gaps in their understanding.”

Camera viewfinder interface displaying a rustic building with a slanted roof and chimney. Lush green leaves are visible on the left. Various camera icons and settings are shown on the screen, including focus brackets and battery level. — *Lushfoil* has different virtual cameras inspired by a wide range of real-world models.

Real-world cameras are costly, and Lushfoil, at $15, can help some people scratch that itch without breaking the bank, especially kids becoming interested in what it would be like to capture images with a real camera.

Many of Lushfoil‘s environments are based on Newell’s own photography travels, including in his native Australia, but some of the game’s environments were inspired by other photographer’s work Newell has seen.

Dense bamboo forest with tall, slender green stalks and thick clusters of narrow leaves. Sunlight filters through the foliage, creating a dappled light effect on the bamboo. The atmosphere is tranquil and lush.

“I’ve been to most of the game’s locations, except for Nepal, China, and Iceland, which are very high on my travel bucket list,” he says. “I wanted to include these locations are seeing work from some of my favorite photographers who’d been there.”

A misty grass field is the backdrop for three small images. From left to right: a snowy mountain, a sunny beach labeled "Castle Rock Beach Meelup, West Australia,” and a red bridge. Icons with miniature images appear above each main image.

When pressed to pick a favorite location in Lushfoil, Newell says China.

“I think the Chinese environment, the abandoned village of Houtouwan, is my favorite as it’s the most recent one I created. It allowed me to best utilize all my experience and skills. I also love the soundtrack I chose for it. It has a very otherworldly feel.”

View from inside a dark cave looking out towards a landscape with distant mountains under a hazy, orange sky. The rugged cave opening frames the scene, casting shadows on the rocky surface inside.

Despite creating a really great video game entirely by himself, Newell does not classify himself as a “gamer.”

“I don’t play a lot of games,” he says, adding that he wanted Lushfoil to be a less traditional game and more cinematic.

“To increase the sense of immersion in Lushfoil, I tried not to include too many ‘game-y’ elements like screen markers, maps, and checklists. I want to let the player do what they want, and not distract them too much.”

If the player wants to enjoy beautiful environments, capture awesome virtual photos, and experience the joys of landscape and travel photography from the comfort of their home, Lushfoil has much to offer.

A misty landscape with rocky terrain and hills covered in patches of green moss. The scene features a winding river or road cutting through the valley, with cloudy skies adding a moody atmosphere.

“I hope I’ve created something that can be seen as approachable, especially for those who don’t usually play games. I think Lushfoil will have something different to offer for everyone,” Newell concludes.

Lushfoil Is Available Now

Lushfoil is now available on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox. It is available on sale for $11.99 for a limited time and is so far a critical hit. If you have not yet read PetaPixel‘s review of Lushfoil by Kate Garibaldi, go check it out.

Image credits: Images captured by Kate Garibaldi in ‘Lushfoil: Photography Sim’ on PC unless otherwise noted. ‘Lushfoil’ was developed by Matt Newell and published by Annapurna Interactive.